The nominations for the 90th annual Academy Awards were released this morning to immediate and varied reactions (The Boss Baby?! No Martin McDonagh?! Woo Get Out!).
Several nominations this year have made history in one way or another. But should we be celebrating the breaking of barriers that should have been felled a long time ago? Are these record-setting nominations something to celebrate, or are they just a stark reminder that it's 2018 and we still have a long way to go?
Jordan Peele has broken all sorts of records with his nominations for Get Out.
.@JordanPeele becomes only the third person to receive best picture, director, and writing #OscarNoms for his first… https://t.co/CzcdSFgZiG— Variety (@Variety)1516719940.0
But it's even more extraordinary when you consider that he is one of the only black directors ever to be nominated in the history of the Oscars.
.@JordanPeele is just the fifth black director to get a 'Best Director' nomination. No black director has ever won… https://t.co/CJK8xFqtr9— Shadow and Act (@Shadow and Act)1516717303.0
In similar news, Rachel Morrison became the first woman ever to be nominated for cinematography.
Major congratulations to the great Rachel Morrison (@MorrisonDP) on becoming the first woman cinematographer to eve… https://t.co/PuZQ7SAq2J— Tribeca (@Tribeca)1516715583.0
Greta Gerwig is just the fifth woman ever to be nominated for the Oscar for best director.
With her nomination this morning for LADY BIRD, Greta Gerwig is only the fifth female Best Director nominee in hist… https://t.co/lwIDGFwJis— TIFF (@TIFF)1516716237.0
In other record-breaking news, Meryl Streep topped her own record with her 21t acting nomination for The Post.
Meryl Streep broke her own #Oscars record with 21st acting nomination for #ThePost https://t.co/DEjyMvUrWj… https://t.co/FehzwinDUM— Entertainment Weekly (@Entertainment Weekly)1516728410.0
Octavia Spencer was nominated for her performance in The Shape of Water, which means she's tied with Viola Davis for the most nominations for a black actress.
.@octaviaspencer has now tied @violadavis with the most nominations for a black actress and also like Davis, has re… https://t.co/kxiZ5iTVqt— Shadow and Act (@Shadow and Act)1516717861.0
Obviously, it is A Good Thing that Jordan Peele and Rachel Morrison and Greta Gerwig and Octavia Spencer were nominated for these awards.
It is important for these barriers to be broken. It'll be even better if they win. But it's also not wrong to criticize the fact that these barriers existed in the first place, that it's taken until 2018 for people of color and women to be recognized in this way.And it's important to recognize that even if this year's nominees are more diverse than last year's, there are still a heck of a lot of groups that continue to be left out of the conversation.
Define "very diverse," Vicky. How many women were nominated in gender-neutral categories? How many Latinx folks wer… https://t.co/bggSfmKWyH— April (@April)1516722820.0
Yeah, this might have been a step, but there is so much more work to be done.
This year, women tore down barriers and black nominees broke records. But there is still a shocking lack of Latinx representation at the Oscars and in Hollywood at large.It's important to celebrate the strides we've made, but it's perhaps more imperative that we highlight the ways in which these moves are not enough.
That's what #OscarsSoWhite is all about. Not just seeing the progress, but ensuring that folks in positions of powe… https://t.co/kJsuGiFShR— April (@April)1516723540.0